A representative from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro has filed a lawsuit against Apple Computers for charges that the MP3 playing device can produce noise up to 115 db.

“Millions of consumers have had their hearing put at risk by Apple’s conduct,” overstates the lawsuit. Apple has an entry in the iPod manual regarding hearing damage, and instructions on how to minimize the risk of such damage, the warning in the manual suggests to keep volume at a “safe level,” however, the suit claims this is unsatisfactory as it does not advice listeners as to what a safe level should be.

Studies show that listening to music at 115 db for more than 30 seconds a day can cause permenant hearing damage to even the healthiest of listeners, Apple’s iPod provides no preventation for such use of the player. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of all iPod owners seeks compensation for hearing loss suffered by iPod users, as well as requests for Apple to limit the iPod’s audio output to 100 decibels.

Apple has no comment on the issue, however, they are not new to the lawsuit front. At the release of the iPod Nano, the same company filed a lawsuit against Apple complaining that the devices scratch too easily.

Under French law, Apple was required to limit the audio output of the iPods sold in France to 100 db.

Many iPod users disagree with this lawsuit, saying that it’s up to the owner to be responsible with their hearing, however, if users want their music loud they should be allowed to do so. Even so, if this lawsuit were to go through, it could be over a year before we see volume-limited iPods.